Casey's General Stores of Ankeny, Iowa, is suing Subway to fight Subway's claim of exclusive rights to the non-hyphenated, grammatically tortured term "footlong" in promoting sandwiches and related services.

The dispute between Casey's and Subway surfaced when one of Subway's lawyers, Valerie Pochron, wrote to Casey's on Jan. 31, saying Doctor's Associate had applied for the trademark "footlong" for its sandwiches.

In the letter, Pochron told Casey's it was on notice to "cease and desist" from using "footlong" and remove all references to it or face legal action.

Casey's describes sandwiches as "footlong" on menu boards at about 180 stores, and intends to roll it out in all of its 1,600 stores in the Midwest, Sease said.